Plastic molded product comprising copper-based compound microparticles and preparation method therefor

ABSTRACT

Molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound with relatively low price, simple process and good economic feasibility and productivity, and method of manufacturing the products are provided. A chemical structure of the molded plastic products is Cu x M y , wherein M is any one selected from groups 15 to 17 of the periodic table, x/y is 0.5-1.5. Also the molded plastic products comprises thermoplastic resin which contains dispersed therein copper-based particles reacts copper sulfate with any one salt, selected from among sulfuric salt, hydrofluoric salt and hydrochloric salt, at a molar ratio of 1:1 in an aqueous solution at a temperature of 10˜80° C.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of International Application No. PCT/KR2013/011690, filed on Dec. 17, 2013, which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Application Nos. 10-2013-0006761, filed on Jan. 22, 2013, and 10-2013-0080215, filed on Jul. 9, 2013, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound and method of manufacturing the products, and more particularly, to molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound with improved antibiosis and conductive property by dispersing copper sulfide particles having conductive property within the plastic resin and method of manufacturing the products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, use of conductive molded plastic products is increasing in households, industrial fields, offices, etc. and the demand is gradually expanding especially in electronic goods. Conductive molded plastic products can be applicable in many fields such as touch panels, EL back lights, shields from electromagnetic waves, antistatic products, solar cells, radiation of heat, car window covers, fabrics, etc. Also molded plastic products to shield from electromagnetic waves are in the spotlight as materials because more people have an interest in maleficence of electromagnetic waves these days. Further, said molded plastic products are also used as materials for car in-mold films and building interior.

For example, hospitals use more expensive medical equipments producing a lot of electromagnetic waves. Therefore, development of molded plastic fabrics or wares with excellent conductivity such as electromagnetic waves shielding effectiveness and antistatic property is needed. On the other hand, indoor air pollution in hospitals is known to be a main cause for nosocomial infection. The influence of indoor air pollution in hospitals on newborn babies, elderly people and patients with weak immunity and resistance to pathogenic bacteria is significant. In general, 10˜20% of nosocomial infection is by aerial infection, while the rest are indirect infection by molded products such as articles and wares used in hospitals.

Molded products that can induce infection include patients' bedding, hospital gowns, hospital workers' duty uniforms, plastic wares, etc. It is known that the number of nosocomial infection is 2.8˜15.0% of inpatients. In order to reduce nosocomial infection, infection cases by fabrics and disposable plastic wares such as tubes, trays, components, etc. should be removed. That is why, development of plastic materials with excellent antibiosis necessary. In other words, molded plastic products used in hospitals should satisfy both conductivity to shield micromagnetic waves and antibiosis to prevent from nosocomial infection.

For improving conductivity of molded plastic products, Korean Patent Application No. 2012-7022202 improved anti-electrostaticity by applying divalent cation of group 2 elements and salt of phosphoric ester. In addition, Korean Patent Application Nos. 2011-7014670, 2010-0101700 and 2009-0098692 provided conductivity of plastic materials by using organic salt having fluorine group and sulfonyl group. Korean Patent Application No. 2009-7006733 improved conductivity of plastic materials by adding a highly polymerized compound having PEO chains as a conductive basic structure. As stated in the cited references, salt of phosphoric ester, organic salt having fluorine group and sulfonyl group, etc. are simply applied to plastic products while easily improving conductivity. However, the drawback with using warm water is that conductivity of plastic wares sharply decreases. In addition, in case of producing plastic wares by compounding conductive polymers having PEO chains, deformation occurs because of non-uniformed crystallinity and crystal size by part.

There are prior studies on antibiosis of molded plastic products. Korean Patent Application No. 10-0559405 compounded 10˜20 weight percent of sulfur powder having 1˜3 μm of particle size with resin, while Korean Patent Application No. 10-0766418 produced plastic products with excellent antibiosis by compounding 1˜600 nm silver nano powder and titanium dioxide with resin. Also Korean Patent Application No. 10-0987728 produced antibacterial yarn by depositing silver on the surface of resin using sputtering or ion plating, and then blending the deposited silver. Korean Patent Application No. 10-1180117 produced antibacterial yarn by dyeing zinc sulfide nano particles and organic antimicrobial.

However, there are a lot of limits to commercialization in spite that antibiosis of silver and sulfur ingredients used in the cited references is known to be excellent. Although silver has good antibiosis and convenience, its supply price is extremely high. In case of sulfur, there are several unsolved problems such as environmental problem, difficulties of manufacturing, etc. Also deposition or coating have low economic feasibility and efficiency as a method to get antibiosis.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

is to provide molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound with relatively low price, simple process and good economic feasibility and productivity, and method of manufacturing the products.

Molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound to solve objective of this invention has a chemical structure of Cu_(x)M_(y), wherein M is any one selected from groups 15 to 17 of the periodic table, x/y is 0.5-1.5, while consisting of thermoplastic resin with dispersed copper-based compound.

In the molded plastic products of the present invention, said M can be one chosen from S, F and Cl, preferably M is S, while the fine particles of copper-based compound can be fine particles of copper sulfide. In addition, it is preferable that the fine particles is greater than 0 wt % but smaller than 50 wt % of the total weight.

Preferable molded products of the present invention can include the copper sulfide fine particles, 0.1˜40wt % of the total weight is included, and concentration of sulfur is 10˜60 mole %, 0.1˜5wt % of the total weight is included, and can be chosen from chrome, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel or zinc.

The thermoplastic resin of the molded products by working examples in the present invention can be at least one chosen from polyethylene trephthalate, polylactic acid, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyamaide, polymetamethylacrylate and polyvinylchloride. In addition the thermoplastic resin can be in order of olefin resin, polyethylene trephthalate and polycarbonate as the size of the molded products gets bigger. Further, the average diameter of the metal fine particles can be smaller than that of the copper sulfide fine particles.

Method of manufacturing molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound to solve the objective of the present invention is as follows. First, synthesize copper sulfide fine particles by reacting salt chosen from copper sulfate, sulfide salt, fluoride salt, chloride salt with aqueous solution in the mole ratio of 1:1. And then, disperse the fine particles onto the thermoplastic resin.

The sulfide salt of the present invention can be one chosen from sodium sulfide, iron sulfide, potassium sulfide and zinc sulfide. The sulfide salt can be sodium sulfide, while the fluoride salt can be one chosen from sodium fluoride, iron fluoride, potassium fluoride and zinc fluoride. Also the chloride salt can be one chosen from sodium chloride, iron chloride, potassium chloride and zinc chloride.

In the preferable manufacturing method of the present invention, the copper sulfate particles can be dispersed onto the thermoplastic resin by compounding. In addition, the manufacturing method can include a step of synthesizing the copper sulfate fine particles and 10˜60 mole % of sulfur concentration, a step of forming sheets on which 0.1˜5 wt % of metal fine particles that is at least one chosen from chrome, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel or zinc are dispersed, and a step of manufacturing molded plastic products using said sheets.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the sheets are formed by extrusion, and molded plastic products can be producted by the primary cooling, heat treatment and the secondary cooling. At this stage, 0.05˜1 (ΔP/h) is preferable as pressure of extrusion to form the sheets.

According to molded plastic products having fine particles of copper-based compound and method of manufacturing the products to solve the objective of the present invention, production of molded plastic products with dispersed copper-based fine particles onto the thermoplastic resin can offer cheaper and easier process while increasing economy feasibility and productivity. In addition, the sheets can be easily produced by lowering pressure of extrusion without hindering antibiosis and conductivity of copper sulfate through adding at least one chosen from transition metals in the 4th period of the periodic table such as chrome, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel or zinc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a picture that shows copper sulfate fine particles manufactured by the examples of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an XRD graph that shows the crystal structure of copper sulfate manufactured by the examples of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a photomicrograph in which copper sulfate manufactured by the examples of the present invention is magnified by a factor of 30,000.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the embodiments described in the present invention are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, therefore, various variations are possible by a person of ordinary skill in the pertinent art within the range of technical features of the present invention.

Examples of the present invention provide molded plastic products that are relatively cheaper and easier to produce and have fine particles of copper-based compound with economy feasibility and productivity and method of manufacturing the products by manufacturing molded plastic products with copper-based fine particles having copper sulfate dispersed onto the thermoplastic resin. For this, method of producing molded plastic produced by dispersing fine particles of copper-based compound having copper sulfate onto the thermoplastic resin will be disclosed in detail. In addition, antibiosis and conductivity of the molded plastic products will also be disclosed in detail.

In this invention, molded plastic products means products manufactured by extruding or injecting polymeric resin having fine particles of copper-based compound having copper sulfate. Molded plastic products such as fabric or wares can be manufactured through said process. Molded plastic products will be divided into molded fabric products and molded ware products in the following explanation. On the other hand, surface coating methods such as deposition or dyeing are not used to manufacture molded plastic products with improved antibiosis and conductivity in this invention considering economic feasibility and productivity. That is, the present invention chooses dispersing copper-based fine particles having antibiosis and conductivity inside and compounding with resin.

<Production of Molded Fabric Products>

Resins that can be used to produce molded fabric products in the present invention include polypropylene, polyethylene trephthalate, polylactic acid, polyamaide, etc., but not limited to those resins. That is, any resin chosen from the thermoplastic resin group that can be used as a materials for molded fabric products can be applied. Especially, polylactic acid (PLA) is a highly polymerized resin that is produced by fermenting starch from potatoes, corn, etc. polylactic acid (PLA) not only has excellent mechanical property, but also has good biodegradation. Accordingly, the use of polylactic acid (PLA) for fabric, films, molding and medical equipment is gradually increasing. The drawback of polylactic acid (PLA) is that it has lower mechanical property and heat resistivity that polyester resins such as polyethylene trephthalate, a petroleum-based resin. However, the above drawback is gradually improving through the synthesis of copolymer.

Copper-based fine particles in the present invention can include copper sulfide (CuS), copper fluoridation (CuF₂), copper chloride (CuCl₂), etc. however, copper sulfide (CuS) is preferable among them. Copper sulfide are synthesized in forms of fine particles by reacting salt chosen from copper sulfate, sulfide salt, fluoride salt, chloride salt with aqueous solution in the mole ratio of 1:1. The chemical structure of the synthesized copper sulfide is Cu_(x)M_(y), and the synthesis condition is limited in order to satisfy 0.5˜1.5 of the x/y ratio. Here, M means S, F and Cl, but is not limited to them. In addition, M is all kinds of organic components that can produce copper sulfide fine particles by methods mentioned in the present invention. More concretely, M can be one that is chosen from groups 15 to 17 in the periodic table.

Kinds of sulfide salt that can be used in the present invention can include sodium sulfide, iron sulfide, potassium sulfide, zinc sulfide, etc., while the fluoride salt can be one chosen from sodium fluoride, iron fluoride, potassium fluoride, zinc fluoride, etc. Also the chloride salt can be one chosen from sodium chloride, iron chloride, potassium chloride, zinc chloride, etc. Among them, copper sulfide that is synthesized using sodium sulfide and copper sulfate has best antibiosis and deodorization.

On the other hand, if the reaction temperature is below 10° C., the average grain size becomes smaller because reactivity of copper sulfate and salt decreases when synthesizing copper-based particles. Accordingly, antibiosis is good while deodorization becomes worse. If the reaction temperature is over 80° C., density of crystals on the surface of copper sulfide and concentration of copper increase because reaction speed is extremely fast. Accordingly, deodorization is good while antibiosis becomes worse. In addition, if the x/y coupling ratio of the copper-based fine particles is below 0.5, concentration of S, F, Cl, etc. increases excessively. In this case, antibiosis becomes better while deodorization becomes worse. Also in case of over 1.5, concentration of copper increases resulting in better deodorization and worse antibiosis.

In examples of the present invention, it is proper to use compounding process in order to maintain antibiosis and deodorization of fabric for a long time by increasing dispersibility of copper-based fine particles in the thermoplastic resin. Compounding process means mixing more than two kinds of solid matters in a certain component ratio at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time, and then producing master chips by extruding, cooling and cutting. In the compounding process of the present invention, greater than 0 wt % but smaller than 50 wt % of limited thermoplastic resin and copper-based fine particle are mixed at barrel temperature which is 30˜50° C. higher than the melting temperature of the resin. If concentration of the copper-based fine particles is 0 wt %, improvement of antibiosis cannot be confirmed. Also if concentration of the copper-based fine particles is higher than 50 wt %, antibiosis and deodorization, but the dispersion state of master chips becomes worse. As a result, the thread breaks during thread process.

For compounding process, a compounder with a built-in biaxial and same direction screw is more preferable than a compounder with a single axis screw because it is better dispersibility. Also it is preferable that the L/D range of the compounding equipment is between 30 and 40. The composition of the compounded master chips includes previously known materials for improving property and process as well as the copper-based fine particles in the thermoplastic resin. The previously known materials can be organic adding agents such as compatibilizing agent, dispersing agent, antistatic agent, dying agent, etc., inorganic adding agents for improving activity and functionality, and other metal fine particles. The composition of master chips produced by the compounding process can be diversified according to purpose of use and usage. That is, fiber produced by previously known equipment was produced to fabric for patients' bedding, hospital gowns, hospital workers' duty uniforms, indoor wallpaper of hospitals, etc.

The present invention is described in more detail by examples and comparative examples, but the examples are only illustrative and, therefore, not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Performance evaluation for fiber produced by the examples and the comparative examples in the present invention was implemented as follows.

(1) Average Diameter

The average diameter of copper-based fine particles are measured with a grain size analyzer (ELS-Z2, Otsuka Electronics Co., Japan)

(2) Ingredient Analysis (x/y Composition)

Ingredients of copper-based fine particles(S_(x)M_(y)) are analyzed by measuring concentration of Cu and M (one of S, F and Cl) with an inductive coupling plasma mass analyzer (Agilent 7500, Aglient Technologies Inc., U.S.).

(3) Antibiosis

Test lysate was contacted to a specimen using Escherichia Coli (ATCC 25922) as cultures. Then, the test lysate was cultivated by placing at a constant position at 25° C. for 24 hours. And then, antibiosis of the specimen was evaluated by counting the number of bacteria.

(4) Deodorization

1 g of copper-based fine particles and 10,000 ng/mL of vapor phase formaldehyde were put in an reactor. Then, deodorization of the copper-based fine particles was evaluated by calculating concentration of removed formaldehyde after 5 minutes. At this time, concentration of remained vapor phase formaldehyde was measured with a gas chromatography (Agilent 6890, Aglient Technologies Inc., U.S.)

EXAMPLE 1

Aqueous solution was manufactured by mixing 1 mole of CuSO₄ and Na₂S respectively with deionized water for 30 minutes. Then, copper sulfide(CuS) as shown in FIG. 1 was synthesized by reacting the aqueous solution at 50° C. in an isothermal reactor. At this stage, the x/y ratio of the synthesized ingredient was 1.02. The crystal structure of the synthesized copper sulfide has a unique structure for copper sulfide as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 illustrates shapes of the grains observed with a microscope of 30,000 magnification. According to FIG. 3, there are no peaks because sulfur has no crystal structure, but copper presented peaks at 55, 65, 99, 125 and 137 degrees.

X-ray powder diffraction (XRD, XD-3A, Shimadzu, Japan) was used to observe the fine particles. And then, 40 wt % of copper sulfide was input in PLA resin with a density of 1.2 (g/cm³), and master chips were made using a compounder with 30 of L/D and a built-in biaxial and same direction screw. Continually, molded fabric products were manufactured by threading the master chips. Nextly, antibiosis and deorderization of the fabric products were measured as proposed above.

EXAMPLE 2

Copper sulfide (CuS) fine particles with the x/y ratio of 1.15 were synthesized by the same method in Example 1. Then, 10 wt % of the copper sulfide was input in PLA resin with a density of 1.2 (g/cm³). Thereafter, fabric molded products were made by the same method in Example 1, and antibiosis and deorderization of the fabric products were measured.

EXAMPLE 3

Copper sulfide (CuS) fine particles with the x/y ratio of 1.08 were synthesized by the same method in Example 1 using CuSO₄ and K₂S instead of CuSO₄ and Na₂S of Example 1. Then, 20 wt % of the copper sulfide were input in PA resin. Thereafter, fabric molded products were made by the same method in Example 1, and antibiosis and deorderization of the fabric products were measured.

EXAMPLE 4

Copper fluoride (CuF₂) fine particles with the x/y ratio of 1.10 were synthesized by the same method in Example 1 using CuSO₄ and NaF instead of CuSO₄ and Na₂S of Example 1. Then, 50 wt % of the copper fluoride was input in PP resin. Thereafter, fabric molded products were made by the same method in Example 1, and antibiosis and deorderization of the fabric products were measured.

EXAMPLE 5

Copper chloride (CuCl₂) fine particles with the x/y ratio of 1.05 were synthesized by the same method in Example 1 using CuSO₄ and NaCl instead of CuSO₄ and Na₂S of Example 1. Then, 5 wt % of the copper chloride was input in PET resin. Thereafter, fabric molded products were made by the same method in Example 1, and antibiosis and deorderization of the fabric products were measured.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

A fabric molded product was made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and having a diameter of 1 cm and a length of 10 cm was prepared, and the antibacterial activity thereof was measured according to the above-described method.

Table 1 shows comparison among Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Examples 1 by areas such as the composition ratio of x/y, the diameter of particles (nm), antibiosis (no./mL) and the deordorization (%) of the copper based fine particles, and antibiosis (no./mL) of the molded fabric products according to weight % of the copper based fine particles in the thermoplastic resin. Here, “N/A” means inaccessible measurement because the number of bacilli of Escherichia Coli (ATCC 25922) is over 10¹⁰.

TABLE 1 Molded fabric products Copper based Reactants Reaction Copper based fine particle fine particle Copper Temp. Antibiosis Deordorization Content Antibiosis sulfate Salt (° C.) x/y (No./mL) (%) Resin Resin (wt %) (No./mL) Examples 1 CuSO₄ Na₂5 50 1.02 2.5 × 10² 75 PLA CuS 40 1.3 × 10⁵ 2 CuSO₄ Na₂S 80 1.15 2.9 × 10² 85 PLA CuS 10 3.2 × 10⁶ 3 CuSO₄ K₂S 65 1.08 3.5 × 10² 62 PA CuS 20 9.2 × 10⁵ 4 CuSO₄ NaF 70 1.10 2.1 × 10² 60 PP CuF₂ 50 1.3 × 10⁴ 5 CuSO₄ NaCl 60 1.05 2.0 × 10² 67 PET CuCl₂ 5 6.5 × 10⁶ Comp. 1 / / / / / 5 LDPE / / N/A Examples

According to Table 1, copper based fine particles of Examples 1 to 5 of the present invention were Cu_(x)M_(y), wherein M is chosen from groups 15 to 17 in the periodic table. Also the copper based fine particles have x/y ratios between 0.5 and 1.5 Then, antibiosis of the copper based fine particles falls within the range of 2.0×10²˜3.5×10² (no./mL) while deordorizations 60˜85%. In addition, antibiosis of the molded fabric products consisting of 5˜50 wt % of fine particles of the said examples was 1.3×10⁴˜6.5×10⁶. However, the antibacterial activity of the product of Comparative Example 1, was very low such that it could not be measured. And the deorderization is very low. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A molded plastic products comprising copper-based compound particulates, the molded plastic products comprising a thermoplastic resin which contains dispersed therein copper-based particles having a chemical structure of Cu_(x)M_(y), wherein M is any one selected from groups 15 to 17 of the periodic table, x/y is 0.5-1.5.
 2. The molded plastic products of claim 1, wherein M is any one selected from among S, F and Cl.
 3. The molded plastic products of claim 1, wherein M is S and the compound is copper sulfide.
 4. The molded plastic products of claim 1, wherein the compound is included in an amount of greater than 0 wt % but no greater than 50 wt % based on the total weight of the products.
 5. The molded plastic products of claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic resins contains the compound have an amount of greater than 0 wt % but no greater than 50 wt % based on the total weight of the products and a sulfur concentration of 10-60 mole %; wherein the thermoplastic resins contains metal particulates of at least one metal selected from among chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel and zinc are included in an amount of 0.1-5 wt % based on the total weight of the products .
 6. The molded plastic products of claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin is any one selected from among polyethyleneterephthalate, polylactic acid, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polymethacrylate and polyvinyl chloride.
 7. The molded plastic products of claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic resin is applied in the order of olefinic resin, polyethyleneterephthalate and polycarbonate as the size of the products increases.
 8. The molded plastic products of claim 5, wherein the average particle size of the metal particulates is smaller than the average particle size of the copper sulfide particulates.
 9. A method for manufacturing a molded plastic products comprising copper-based compound particulates, the method comprising the steps of: reacting copper sulfate with sulfuric salt, at a molar ratio of 1:1 in an aqueous solution at a temperature of 10˜80° C., thereby synthesizing copper sulfide particulates; forming a sheet comprising the copper sulfide particulates dispersed in a thermoplastic resin.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sulfuric salt is any one selected from among sodium sulfide, iron sulfide, potassium sulfide and zinc sulfide.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the sulfuric salt is sodium sulfide.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the copper-based particles are dispersed in the thermoplastic resin by compounding.
 13. The method of claim 9, synthesizing copper sulfide particulates having a sulfur concentration of 10-60 mole %; forming the sheet comprising the thermoplastic resin which has dispersed therein 0.1-5 wt % of metal particulates and made of at least one selected from among chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel and zinc; manufacturing the molded plastic products from the sheet.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sheet is formed by extrusion, and the formed sheet is subjected to primary cooling, heat treatment and secondary cooling to provide the molded plastic products.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the change of extrusion pressure for forming the sheet is 0.05-1 (ΔP/h). 